Commentary on African folktales and a companion blog to www.allfolktales.com.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

When an elder dies, a library is burned

The words of Elizabeth Lindsey on TEDTalks, "When an elder dies, a library is burned", is so much truer for cultures that relied on oral histories.

I think of all the burned libraries in African history and wonder if it matters. Why is it even important to preserve the past. What does it have to do with the future? And I do not have an answer. But I have a very strong gut feeling that it is important, I just can't put in in words. Yet.

According to Elizabeth Lindsey's bio, she'll be setting out on a 186 day global expedition to chronicle teachings critical to navigating the complexity of our times. That will be interesting to follow, and perhaps, will help me better clarify why we need to preserve our past.

2 comments:

It's been my experience that stories/tales, along with other forms of art, are vessels of cultural knowledge which carry the wisdom of the worlds many people. This knowledge has timeless application and a lack of encountering these vessels/stories is connected to some of the various challenges we face as a world right now.

Your work here is definitely a step in bringing balance to the mindscape of people today! Thank you.

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About Me

Here I post all things relating to allfolktales.com - a growing collection of West African folktales as recalled by myself (from growing up in Nigeria) and other willing contributors. This blog tracks the process and progress of allfolktales.com.